Sharon Prendeville

Barriers and benefits to ecodesign: A case study of tool use in an SME

There are numerous eco-analysis tools that are indicative of a products environmental performance using indicators such as eco-toxicity and damage to human health. Many of these tools are resource intensive, require significant expertise and are hence unsuitable for Small to Medium size Enterprises (SMEs). As SMEs represent a substantial proportion of the economy, targeting these companies presents an opportunity to significantly enhance implementation of ecodesign practice in Welsh businesses. The following paper seeks to explore the benefits and barriers associated with utilizing three current eco-analysis tools for an SME. It explores how Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C), Carbon Footprinting (CFP) and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) can be utilised by SMEs to comprehensively evaluate a products environmental performance. To achieve this, the paper presents a case study of Orangebox, a furniture design company based in Wales that has an ecodesign led approach to New Product Development (NPD). The support this, the company recently undertook a C2C analysis for the Ara, an innovative, award winning task chair design. This case study evaluates the potential long-term benefits associated with using these tools, such as embedding life cycle thinking within an SMEs design culture.

Makespaces: From Redistributed Manufacturing to a Circular Economy

Redistributed manufacturing is an emerging concept which captures the anticipated reshoring and localisation of production from large scale mass manufacturing plants to smaller-scale localised, customisable production units, largely driven by new digital production technologies. Critically, community-based digital fabrication workshops, or makespaces, are anticipated to be one hothouse for this new era of localised production and as such are key to future sustainable design and manufacturing practices. In parallel, the concept of the circular economy conceptualises the move from a linear economy of take-make-waste to a closed loop system, through repair, remanufacturing, and recycling to ultimately extend the value of products and materials. Despite the clear interplay between redistributed manufacturing and circular economy, there is limited research exploring this relationship. In light of these interconnected developments, the aim of this paper is to explore the role of makespaces in contributing to a circular economy through redistributed manufacturing activities. This is achieved through six semi-structured interviews with thought leaders on these topics. The research findings identify barriers and opportunities to both circular economy and redistributed manufacturing, uncover overlaps between circular economy and redistributed manufacturing, and identify a range of future research directions that can support the coming together of these areas. The research contributes to a wider conversation on embedding circular practices within makespaces and their role in redistributed manufacturing.

Design for Remanufacturing and Circular Business Models

Remanufacturing has significant market potential, and the purported benefits of remanufacturing are compelling. Remanufacturing offers a means to retain control of products and materials throughout the product life cycle, and, therefore, through remanufacturing, businesses can insulate against material price shocks and future material scarcity issues. Remanufacturing has therefore been identified as a ‘sleeping giant’ whose potential, once tapped, can fast track companies to increased profits, while, in parallel, realising circular practices within industrial systems. However, it is widely accepted that the majority of products that are currently remanufactured have not been designed for remanufacturing and business models to support remanufacturing are complex. In light of these combined issues, this paper presents the story of a business in transition. The core aim of this paper is to build understanding of design for remanufacturing and remanufacturing-oriented business models. The paper reports on the linkages between design and business model strategies by presenting a case of a business-led pilot study conducted to explore the commercial viability of remanufacturing. The results show how life cycle considerations and a combination of design and business strategies can accelerate transition to resource-efficient business models. The paper illuminates the topic of remanufacturing by showcasing a dynamic real-world business case, from which other companies can learn.

Design Principles for Do-It-Yourself Production

The increasing access of people to fabrication capabilities has stimulated the emergence of personal fabrication settings and inspired post-industrial production scenarios. One strategy to support personal production is to increase technology literacy and access for citizens to means of production. Yet, so far, the deliberate design of products so they can be realized by individuals, an activity termed here as “design for do-it-yourself (DIY) production”, has been under-explored in academia. The present article aims to formalize the know-how gained by practitioners who designed products for production in do-it-yourself settings. It provides an original definition of DIY and the formulation of 14 design principles for DIY production to support practice.

Human-Centred Design of Products And Services for the Circular Economy – A Review

Abstract This paper aims to broaden the circular economy discussion by emphasizing the role of people. The paper combines core circular economy literature and user-centred design seed literature with illustrative case studies, to consider the positioning of design within a circular economy. The article observes that design is considered predominantly in positivist terms within a field dominated by management, engineering, ecological and environmental science literature. Conceptualizing the designer’s opportunity within the circular economy would benefit from integration of knowledge from the social sciences (sociology of consumption, consumer psychology, cultural studies, inter alia). The current orientation overlooks design as a ‘radical humanist’ paradigm and this has implications for how people are considered (from ‘users-as-subjects’ to ‘people-as-participants’) raising ethical questions about design practice within divergent circular economy framings. The article lays a basis for further research and theory-building for a fuller conceptualization of the designer’s opportunity within the circular economy.

Circular Makerspaces: the founder’s view

Abstract Makerspaces – open access design and fabrication workshops – provide new contexts for design practice through ‘distributed production’. The global community of makerspaces has evolved quickly and in turn, substantial hype is attributed to its potential for radical sustainable innovation. In this article, we explore this potential in the context of the new ‘circular economy’ agenda. We focus the research on the critical role of makerspace managers/founders who are recognised as gatekeepers to circular practices. The research method is action-led including expert interviews (academics and founders/managers) as well as two generative context-mapping workshops, run at selected makerspaces in collaboration with their founders/managers. We unearth everyday ‘how-to’ guidance to interweave circular practices within makerspaces from the outset by: fostering an enabling culture; building local connections; nurturing individual/community capacities; and stimulating practical know-how. However, while the research reveals immense opportunities to cultivate circular literacy from within makerspaces, the prospects to ask more profound questions about our economy, through makerspace practices, are found to be compromised by day-to-day concerns. The insights from this research can act as a starting point for future work in this emerging research area.

Exploring articulations of design activism

Discussions on design activism generously embrace the activist ethos of designers, but are inconsistent in articulating how design activism makes a difference in relation to the various socially engaged design approaches generated. Committed to critically and transformationally engage with progressive socio-economic and political problems, the activist designer creates forms and situations within social processes. By mapping the fields of knowledge and concepts on which design activism draws, the paper attempts to bring an understanding of what informs Design Activism actions beyond the neoliberal paradigm. Drawing on the emerging discussions on design activism, the paper brings together articulations of design activism from scholars and design collectives to foreground the foundation for a more coherent understanding of design activism and a constructive dialogue within its community.